The Unusual Suspects
by MissDevon
Summary: AU Jake exit story with returning favorites along for the ride
1. Chapter 1: A Visitor from the Past

Disclaimer: OK, so they're not mine, but the majority of them aren't being used anyway so why not take them out to play for a bit?  
  
I started this when I first heard that they were being stupid enough to write Jake off of ATWT. I wanted to do something that would take into account his history and actually be able to bring him back from. Too bad the actual writers weren't as kind!  
  
Chapter 1  
  
~A Visitor from the Past~  
  
Jake sat on the cot, his head buried in his hands. Here he was once again.  
  
The reemergence of 'Jake the Snake.'  
  
Jake the screw up.  
  
At least that was what they would all think, and he supposed they were right.  
  
If they weren't he wouldn't be in this six by eight cell. He wouldn't have counted on Carl for help! At least, he supposed, it hadn't been for selfish reasons. He had been trying to protect them; his women. Ironic that he had ended up hurting two of them in the course of helping others. G-d, he never should have trusted Carl to fix this. . .  
  
"McKinnon," Margo Hughes said as she stopped in front of the cell and took out the keys to open the door, "you have a visitor."  
  
Jake's head shot up at that, a flash of hope lighting his eyes, "it's not Molly," she added on a sigh.  
  
"Kinda figured," he said softly as he rose to his feet and crossed the cell. "So who is it?"  
  
"Your cousin," Margo said stiffly as she opened it.  
  
"My cousin?"  
  
"What? Don't have any?" she asked as the door closed behind them and they walked towards the interrogation room.  
  
"Nay. I've got cousins. Just didn't think any were close enough to hear about this," he shrugged.  
  
"Well, apparently she was," Margo told him as she opened the door. "Ms. McKinnon, you have half and hour."  
  
"Thank you," the red head staring out the barred window, the shade off just enough for Jake to raise and eyebrow as Margo indicated he should enter and waited to close the door behind him.  
  
At the sound of the door closing, the woman turned, causing Jake to shake his head as she walked towards him. "Got something to tell me?"  
  
"Not even in your dreams, McKinnon," she laughed as they shared a quick hug. "Trouble still finds you huh?"  
  
"Something like that," he shrugged as they moved towards the table in the middle of the room. "So what's the story?"  
  
"Seems you have more of one to share," she started as she sat and reached into her purse, as he opened his mouth, she cut him off. "Carl tracked me down," she explained as she pushed a sheaf of papers to him along with a pen.  
  
"Guess its good someone knows how to. What with you disappearing off the face of the earth and all."  
  
"Thought I had a good reason to."  
  
"Yeah, I guess."  
  
"Don't see you hanging around there."  
  
"I said you had a point. So do I want to know?" he asked indicating the papers with a tilt of his head.  
  
"Pact with the devil we know and love," she deadpanned.  
  
"Though I already made it to get here," he sighed.  
  
"Still better the one you know. . ."  
  
"I guess," he sighed as he signed them. "So know what?"  
  
"Lunch," she said as she reached under the table and pulled out a bag containing containers from Carlinos.  
  
"So you've seen. . ."  
  
"No. They were delivered," she told him softly as she opened the lid of one and crumpled up label with his name, and stuck it into her purse.  
  
"So you haven't heard about. . ."  
  
"Just that she's dealing and wishes. . ." she shrugged.  
  
"Just as long as she's safe."  
  
The woman shook her head sadly. "There's so much of this you have no clue about."  
  
"So fill me in."  
  
"You will be, eventually," she sighed as she handed him a fork. "I hope you enjoy this as much this time as the last."  
  
Jake swallowed convulsively as he looked at the container. "Let me guess. Paulina's jailhouse special?"  
  
"Eat up. You're going to need your strength," the red head said in way of answer watching as Jake watched the food wearily before taking a bite. Hiding a slight smile, she started eating her own meal, knowing it was only a matter of minutes before the plan would be put into action. 


	2. Chapter 2: Bad News

Chapter 2  
  
~Bad News~  
  
Molly rolled her eyes as she hurried towards the door, the towel she had been using to clean up a spill still in her hand. Yanking open the door she glared at Margo. "What do you want now?"  
  
Margo merely took a deep breath, "can I come in?" she asked stiffly.  
  
"Why? So you can badger my daughter? No, wait. Let me guess. Me, this time. Or better yet; one of the twins. Yeah. That must be it. We're placing the blame on one of them now!"  
  
"Molly, I know I'm probably one of the last people you want to see right now, but I need to talk to you about Jake."  
  
"That's the last person I want to think about right now!"  
  
"Molly. . ."  
  
"I don't care! He has nothing to say that could get me to talk to him right now."  
  
"In more ways than you know," Margo muttered and then sighed. "Molly, there is something you need to know."  
  
"Whatever!" Molly said, throwing up her hands in exasperation as she turned to storm back into the living room, leaving Margo to follow her. "So what's the ever so important news?" she asked as she turned to glare at the other woman.  
  
"Molly, I think you'd better sit down."  
  
"Just tell me what you need to and get out."  
  
"Don't say I didn't give you fair warning."  
  
"Margo. . ."  
  
"It's Jake," Margo started as Molly rolled her eyed. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this. . . but he. . . Jake died half an hour ago."  
  
"What?!?!" Molly asked, the towel fell from her limp hands and she took a reflexive step back, collapsing onto the arm of the couch. "How?"  
  
"His cousin came to visit him. She brought him lunch. He had an allergic reaction to something in it. Went into anaphylactic shock. There was nothing they could do."  
  
"No. Not Jake," Molly said, shaking her head. "He can't be…"  
  
"I'm sorry Molly," Margo said softly as the door opened and Abigail started in with Adam.  
  
"Mom, what are you doing here?" he asked, as Abigail went over to her own mother, "Molly, what is it?"  
  
"Jake. . .he's. . ." but she couldn't say it. Shakily, Molly pushed herself to her feet and staggered towards the hallway, "I need to check on the girls," she said stiffly. Adam and Abigail exchanged troubled glances as they watched her go. "Mom, what's going on?" Adam demanded.  
  
Margo sighed, sometimes, I really hate this job, she thought. "It's Jake. He died earlier this afternoon." 


	3. Chapter 3: Misrepresentation

Chapter 3  
  
~Misrepresentation~  
  
"I so can't believe I'm doing this," the man groused as he looked over to the red head next to him.  
  
"Oh shut up and do it already. We don't have much time. If Donna or Marley get here before we're gone this isn't going to work," she told him as she trusted a ream of legal papers at him.  
  
"You had better hope she wasn't a fan," he muttered as he slipped on sunglasses and started to open the car door.  
  
"You didn't gross enough domestically for that to be a possibility," she deadpanned, earning a colorful response. "Nice language for a lawyer."  
  
"I'm supposed to be related to Jake, remember."  
  
"And his image has cleaned up considerably since the last time you saw him."  
  
"I'll take that under advisement."  
  
"Just go so was can get outta here!"  
  
"I'm going. I'm going," he muttered as he slid out of the car and adjusted his sunglasses, wondering not for the first time how he'd let his sister-in- law talk him into this one.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Abigail sat on the couch with the twins next to her. She couldn't believe this was happening. That Jake was really gone. Forcing a smile, she handed Michelle a crayon as the doorbell chimed. Slowly she rose, hoping it was Donna or Marley. All she wanted to do at the moment was lock herself into her room and cry, but since Molly had gone to make funeral arrangements, she had to watch the girls. Fighting back tears, she opened the door to a dark haired man, and frowned slightly. "Umm. . .can I help you?"  
  
"You must be Abigail," he said softly as he looked over the rim of his sunglasses and at her, smiling slightly. "Jake told me a lot about you."  
  
"Jake's not here. . . he's. . ."  
  
"I know. Our cousin called from the hospital. I'm sorry we couldn't have met under better circumstances."  
  
"I don't. . ." she sighed, shaking her head as she stepped back.  
  
"Of course. I'm sorry. I'm Jake's half-brother."  
  
"He didn't. . .I didn't know he had one."  
  
"Yeah, well, we haven't always been the closest," he man shrugged. "Look, I hate to do this, but I have a plane to catch. Are they ready?"  
  
"Are who ready?"  
  
"The twins."  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"Shit. Leave it to Jake," he muttered as he patted his suit jacket and then pulled out the sheaf of papers his cohort had given him. "I thought you already know. Jake signed papers for me to take over custody of the girls a while ago."  
  
"You want to take the girls?" Abigail asked aghast.  
  
"It's not necessarily about want, but I did tell him that if anything happened I'd be there. Look, if you can just get a few of their things together . . ."  
  
"You can't take them. Molly's not even here and. . ."  
  
"I'm sorry. I thought. . ." he shook his head as he looked at his watch. "I have that flight. We're going to some relatives, they'll be in good hands. But I need to take them now. It's all legal."  
  
"I can't. . ." Abigail protested as she looked around the room panicly.  
  
"Look, I'll call the police if I have to. I don't want to make this any harder than it has to be, for any of us. . ."  
  
Shakily Abigail nodded and stepped back so he could enter. "I'll get some of their things together. It shouldn't take long," she thought, her mind running all over the place. Maybe she could call Molly. She'd have to get here quickly, wouldn't she? She could buy them time. She had to. . . 


	4. Chapter 4: Failure

Chapter 4  
  
~Failure~  
  
Molly hurried into the Penthouse, Cass Winthrop trailing behind her, only to find Abigail curled up on the couch, crying. "Abigail?" she said softly, a touch of panic in her voice.  
  
"Oh, Molly, I'm so sorry. . . I tried. . . really I did. . ." she cried as she launched herself into Molly's arms. "I just couldn't stop him."  
  
Molly shot panicked eyes to Cass as she tried to console her shaken daughter, "Did you know about this?"  
  
"No. Jake didn't have me draw up any papers," he sighed as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Hell, he didn't contact me directly for the Sutter thing either. Paulina asked me to take the case."  
  
"Can you. . ." she asked as she caught sight of the stack of legal looking papers on the end table.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Honey," Molly said softly. "Did he say anything about who he was?"  
  
"Only that he was Jake's brother or something," she shrugged as Cass froze.  
  
"His brother?" Cass asked, a touch of skepticism in his voice.  
  
"Yeah. Oh, G-d, don't tell me that he doesn't have one. I mean I know Jake never mentioned him, but. . ."  
  
"No, Jake has a brother," Cass said, his frown growing as he read over the papers. Whoever had drawn them up was good.  
  
"Abigail, why don't you go and rest," Molly encouraged her daughter. Once Abigail had taken the advice, Molly turned to Cass. "What is it? What aren't you telling me?"  
  
"Molly, as far as I know, Jake only has one brother. The last I heard Kevin was still in jail," Cass told her softly.  
  
"Oh, G-d," Molly muttered as she slipped to the couch and buried her head in her hands. "The papers list someone else right?" she asked as she looked up.  
  
"No. They list Kevin Anderson as the guardian."  
  
"This. . . what's going on? A brother whose supposed to be in jail? A cousin who shows up out of no where?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Jake had a visitor. A cousin. Margo said she brought the food that. . . that. . . Molly shook her head unable to continue.  
  
"I'm going to give Margo a call. See if we can't get to the bottom of this. Could be one of the cousins thought they were doing the right thing by pretending to be Kevin," Cass shrugged, unconvinced as he went to make the phone call that would shake him even more. 


	5. Chapter 5: Playing Games

Chapter 5  
  
~Playing Games~  
  
"This is going to get people asking questions we don't want," the man muttered before turning to Carl. "I still can't believe I let you talk me into this."  
  
"We both have our reasons."  
  
"Yeah," he sighed as he rocked on his feet. "How's she doing?"  
  
"Asks the man who put her in the situation to begin with."  
  
"Hey, you want the same information I do. If I had known what he'd done to Paulina I never would've asked her. . ."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I can't believe I'm risking this whole thing to help McKinnon."  
  
"Let's not forget your sister," Carl said pointedly as he played with a paperweight.  
  
"Maybe they'll ask the right questions this time."  
  
"Somehow, I doubt it," Carl groused, earning a knowing nod from the man across from him, because chances were Hutchins was right, which put more lives onto the game board--- a game where there probably would never be winners. Time, he assumed would tell. But he had no idea just how much time they'd need for the game to play out. . . 


	6. Chapter 6: Oh, How the Years Go By

Chapter 6  
  
~Oh How the Years Go By~  
  
Margo sat at her desk and looked over the file on Jake McKinnon and his daughters as she had every year since his death. She still felt like she was missing something. The cousin who wasn't, but whom he had known. The brother in jail and the fake whom had taken the girls. The fact that both parties knew too much about the McKinnon's not to have been connected to Jake in someway.  
  
And that was what drove her to this. What was that connection? Was it connected to Steinbech? Wallace? Some unknown force out there waiting to pounce?  
  
Besides, she had to admit she had played a role in this. She had arrested Jake even though she hadn't believed that he had murdered Sutter. Suspected that he was protecting someone. And then after Abigail's breakdown, she'd been proven right. The young woman had finally remembered what had happened that night. Remembered a blonde who had saved her from being raped, although they never had been able to learn who the woman had been, there was a belief that Jake had known her because of a comment Abigail had remembered. Case or not, I couldn't let him do to her what he did to her what he did to Paulina. What that was exactly, Paulina Carlino had never revealed, and the truth was she had never really pushed.  
  
Shaking her head she put aside the file and started to pave her small office. She was missing something they all were. Aside from the changed custody papers, there were so many oddities in his will. The trusts set up for Molly, Abigail, Sean, Steven, and Kirkland, but not the twins. The fact that Carl Hutchins and not Lucinda Walsh was the executive of it. That his newspapers went to Chris Madison, a never present supposedly best friend, who stepped into the role of protector to Molly and Abigail. The strange untraceable business transactions. The disappearance of the medic who had transported him to the hospital after getting offered a 'better job.' The doctor who was one staff only for that day because her husband hadn't gotten a transfer at the last minute. Yet, one of the handful of patients she had treated had been Jake.  
  
Alone, it wasn't much. Together it was a conspiracy she doubted they'd ever be able to crack. But she'd continue to set aside the time once a year to at least try, just like she had for the past five years. . .  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~**~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~**~~*~  
  
Molly sat in the park enjoying the sun, yet cringing at the laughter of the children around her. They should have been playing with them, a voice in her head nagged as it always did. And it was the truth. In a perfect world the twins would be running with the other children, playing and laughing, while she sat on the bench with Jake laughing at their antics and maybe at those of a child of their own. But both were just images from a dream. Jake was gone and they had never had the change to fix things between them. And the girls were gone. She had been unable to keep her promise to Vickie; her vows to Jake. She'd never get over either.  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~**~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~**~~*~  
  
He walked quickly through the house and onto the sun porch, whistling slightly as he did. It was one of the few times in the last few years he had gotten any semblance of good news. Smiling, he stepped onto the porch only to stop short.  
  
He hated seeing the women he cared about upset, and it was clear from the way she leaned against the railing and glass that she was. "Hey, what's the matter?" he asked as he approached, noting how she turned towards him in surprise and swiped at her tearstained face.  
  
"Nothing," she told him quickly.  
  
"Tell it to someone who doesn't know you better. We've known each other what? 15 years at least?" he shot back as he walked over to her.  
  
"Reminding me of my age is not a good idea right now," she told him testily.  
  
"I still have close to ten years on you, or don't you remember?"  
  
"Shaving a few years off there, aren't we?" she asked with a raised eyebrow and quivering lip.  
  
"Thanks a lot. Now to make up for the disparaging comments you can spill."  
  
"I told you it was nothing," she said defensively.  
  
"Hey, this is me, remember?"  
  
"You're not going to let this go, are you?"  
  
"Um. . . let me think a minute. No."  
  
"He's gone," she said softly, so softly he almost didn't hear it.  
  
"What?"  
  
"He's gone. He's running communications on this. . ." she threw her hands up. "The fact that they found out. . . knew who else. . . it was supposed to be a good thing. I never thought he'd go with them. Guess it's just the case he never finished."  
  
He nodded, "now tell me the rest, Red. Because him going isn't what's got you so peeved. You never thought it because on some level you knew."  
  
"What would you know?"  
  
"Close to 20 years of you. So, what's really eating at you?"  
  
"What if something goes wrong, again? If this time he really doesn't come back? What the hell am I going to do then? I don't think I can go through it again. Bury him a second time."  
  
"If you do, you will. You're one of the strongest women I know, Castilingo."  
  
"Thanks, Ebberhart," she said sarcastically.  
  
"You one thing I'm not going to miss about this?"  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"The damn alias. I still don't know how someone didn't pick up on it."  
  
She shook her head slightly, "too obvious."  
  
"Yeah," he sighed. "We're quite a team."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"We're not looking at the good parts."  
  
"You were."  
  
"Yeah, and then you had to bring up burials. She's not going to forgive me for this, no matter how much I want her to. She's going to knock me on my ass when she sees me."  
  
"Maybe. Maybe not."  
  
"You mean you didn't knock the good Captain on his at the time?"  
  
"First time I saw him I was kinda busy pushing out our kid. Next time. . . well, it's kinda hard to knock a guy in a wheelchair on his ass."  
  
"Ouch. Didn't realize."  
  
"Don't get me wrong. Part of me wanted to. Wanted him to get out and never come back, but the part that had wanted it all to have been nothing but a bad dream. . ."  
  
"That part won out huh?"  
  
"It wasn't that simple. Truth is it's hard to do when the man's sitting their holding your kid, ready to leave if that's what you want. It was tough as hell to work through; hell we still are working through it at times."  
  
"Like now."  
  
"Yeah. Like now."  
  
"Well, I'll tell you what. You at least have me to rely on."  
  
"That's supposed to make me feel better?" she asked on a slight smile.  
  
"Figured it couldn't make it worse," he hedged, causing her to laugh slightly. "She really is going to knock you on your ass," she told him.  
  
"Yeah. I figured."  
  
"Just get up and don't give up this time around."  
  
"Yeah," he sighed as he ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair. 


End file.
